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Corrections and Errata

Look here for corrections to the initial printings of my book. Later printings, depending on when these are done, should have these corrections already made. Not every single typo or gramatical faux paux is listed here, but any corrections that might affect the meaning of the book's text are listed.

Corrections to Part I: Creating Your First Style Sheet

Chapter 1, bottom of page 17 and top of page 18.

In the table listing different generations of browsers, Internet Explorer 6 and Opera 6 are listed as third-generation CSS browsers, when they are more accurately described as being second-generation CSS browsers. When the text was written, those browsers were still in beta testing. Most of the work in those browsers has gone into fixing their implementations of CSS1, while still leaving much of CSS2 unimplemented. Hopefully, Internet Explorer 7, Opera 7, and Netscape 7, when they are released, will be third-generation CSS browsers.

Chapter 2, code example at bottom of page 27.

The "body" style included in the example code (fifth line down) is not included in the example file and should be deleted.

Chapter 3, tip at top of page 51.

In the included code example, the background-color property should be bolded, and not the font-size property, like this:

h1 { color: red; background-color: transparent; font-size: 36px; }

Chapter 3, code example at bottom of page 55.

The included code example provides a generic example of an unordered list, rather than the specific unordered list example that is included in the example file. The unordered list example should read like this:

Corrections to Part II: Understanding Basic Concepts

Chapter 4, second bullet list item at top of page 82.

Using CSS, a single style sheet can be used... should be replaced with Using CSS, style sheets can be used... The bullet item is referring to using styles to govern the presentation of documents in different media types (the Web and a laser printer), which requires separate style sheets for each media type for which styles are being targeted.

Chapter 5, first paragraph (below caution) on page 104.

In the last sentence in the paragraph, 18 points should be changed to 24 pixels and 12 points should be changed to 16 pixels -- points, of course, are inappropriate for setting font sizes for a Web page.

Chapter 5, code example near the bottom of page 104.

In the first line of the code example, 16pt should be changed to 16px.

Corrections to Part III: Working with Colors, Fonts, and Text

The phrase deprecated HTML elements and styles should be changed to deprecated HTML elements and attributes.

Chapter 6, next to last paragraph on page 111.

The sentence -- Here's an example of setting the text color for the text (or foreground) color fo rthe BODY element. -- was mistakenly left in and should be deleted.

Chapter 6, tip at bottom of page 117.

The decimal equivalent for a hexadecimal value of 99 should be 153, not 102.

Chapter 7, bottom paragraph (above Caution) on page 132.

The measurements in this paragraph all refer to points. This is incorrect and should be changed to pixels. Points are, of course, inappropriate for setting font sizes for display on the Web.

Chapter 7, second paragraph on page 140.

In the second paragraph, the measurement should read 24 pixels and not 24 points. Points are, of course, inappropriate for setting font sizes for display on the Web.

Chapter 8, next to last paragraph on page 165.

The first sentence in this paragraph should read Internet Explorer 5.5 doesn't support setting the word-spacing property, although Internet Explorer 6 does. At the time the original text was written, Internet Explorer 6 was still in beta-testing.

Chapter 8, last paragraph on page 165.

Since Internet Explorer 6 does now support the word-spacing property, this paragraph should be deleted.

Chapter 8, code examples near top of pages 176 and 177.

In the code example near the top of page 176, the properties for the a:active pseudo-class should match those that are set for the a:visited pseudo-class, like this:

At the top of page 177, the end of the sentence prior to the code example should read make sure that your hover and active properties will be displayed, you must always list the a:hover and a:active pseudo-classes after the other pseudo-classes. The first code example should read like this:

Corrections to Part V: Working with Lists and Tables

To use only the file name of the bullet image as the URL, the image must be in the same folder where your style sheet's HTML file (or your external style sheet) is saved.

The third sentence should be revised to read:

A relative URL states the position of the linked object relative to the position of the linking file.

The end of the last sentence in the first paragraph in the Tip should be revised to read:

...a style sheet located within the proj1 and proj2 folders.

The first sentence at the top of page 254 in the same Tip should be revised to read:

This example tells the browser to look in the parent folder (../) of the linking file's folder for an images folder (images/)....

Chapter 12, "Working with Rows and Columns," pages 286-290.

For the example in the section, "Setting Colors and Backgrounds for Column Groups," to work properly in Internet Explorer 6 for Windows, the code block at the top of page 289 should be revised. The issue arises because Internet Explorer 6 apparently does not properly implement the table layer schema, which specifies that backgrounds set for column groups and columns are effective only if the backgrounds of contained table rows or cells are transparent. IE 6 would seem to be taking a shortcut, by simply excluding any row or cell for which a background color property has been declared, even if it is set as transparent. Thus, for the example to display in IE 6 as shown in the book, the background: transparent property must be deleted from the tbody tr td style. Note also that the application of a foreground color (color: black) to the column groups is also in error, in that background colors can be set for column groups and columns, but, somewhat illogically, foreground colors cannot. Here is the corrected code:

Corrections to Part VI: Getting Deeper into Styles

A number of issues have arisen relative to both the sidebar menu and ribbon menu examples in Chapter 13. For the sidebar menu, Internet Explorer 6 no longer supports setting element heights using percentage values, while the ribbon menu example has some display problems in the Mozilla browser. I've created a revised example that fixes these problems and seems to work fine in all CSS-supporting browsers (not counting Netscape 4 or Internet Explorer 3, of course). Just click on the link to download the new sidebar/ribbon menu example. Just use a file compression utility (WinZip, Stuffit Expander, etc.) to expand the included HTML file.

Chapter 13, in code example at the center of page 305.

In the code example, the line that needs to be corrected reads like this:

<div style="text-align="center">

The corrected code example line should read like this:

<div style="text-align: center">

Chapter 13, code example on page 310.

Internet Explorer 6 does not recognize setting element heights using percentages. The height values should be changed from 315% to 90em (and the bottom padding value for the div.main element also needs to be changed to get the element heights to match), as shown here:

The end of the last sentence in this paragraph should read (correction in bold): "...shield partially compliant and non-compliant browsers from accessing your style sheet." This is more accurate than saying "page," as in the book, since your style sheet could be in the form of an external style sheet that is not present within the page.

Chapter 13, code examples on page 315.

Internet Explorer 6 does not recognize setting element heights using percentages. The same changes that were made on page 310 to the div.side and div.main style rules need to be made here, as well.

Chapter 14, first sentence in note near the bottom of page 333.

The end of this sentence should read (addition in bold): "...and which are included with the example files that can be downloaded from this book's Web site."